Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Hail! South Dakota, a great state of the land.

Tuesday was a day I'd been looking forward to for a long time - South Dakota. To get to the part of the state worth seeing (the people here in Rapid City confirmed that was the case), I had to drive south on US-83 from Bismarck to I-90 in South Dakota. Once I got to the interstate, it was just a hop, skip and a jump to Badlands National Park. I did make one bathroom stop on the way from Bismarck, in Mount City, S.D. (pop. 89). The only public bathroom I could find was in the city park, which seemed like a fitting stop as I head toward some of the nation's largest parks.



So I arrived at the Badlands around 3 and it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. You can read about it on your own, but basically it's an area that was under water a few hundred million years ago and is now one of the most unique landscapes in the world. I'll upload an entire gallery later (as promised:)

South Dakota

Last, but certainly not least, was a trip to Mount Rushmore. It was as cool as I'd hoped, with a surprise. As I walked up toward the monument, I noticed that the main viewing area was blocked off. I feared that it was under construction or closed, but it turns out they were filming National Treasure: Book of Secrets. So I stuck around a little long than planned to get a glimpse of Jon Voight, Nicolas Cage and Helen Mirren. I thought this picture was a neat contrast of the movie lights, the lights that illuminate the monument and, of course, the sunset.

Today I'm off to get an oil change here in Rapid City then west to Yellowstone!

4 comments:

Harper said...

So, what's the buzz in the Northern Great Plains? What are they talking about? I need to know.

dpnation said...

My 7th grade history teacher would deny that North Dakota existed. Can you confirm or deny?

And don't forget where Mt. Rushmore came from - you can thank your southern roots and Stone Mountain.

For those of you who don't like reading, here's the gist:
"... Borglum was able to complete the head of Lee on January 19, 1924. In 1925 a dispute arose between Borglum and the managing association. As a result of the conflict, Borglum left, taking all of his sketches and models with him. Borglum went on to carve the famous Mount Rushmore sculpture in South Dakota."

Unknown said...

That's pretty sweet about Jon Voight, Nicholas Cage & Helen Mirren. Did Jon Voight mention that we all need to be vigilant against the terrorists? We do. Just ask him.

Unknown said...

Forget South Dakota. How's Wyoming?